The death of a secessionist<\/p>\n
On Monday, mystery still shrouded the death of Theys Hiyo
\nEluay, the chairman of the pro-independence Papuan Independence
\nCouncil (PDP). Theys was found dead in his car near the edge of a
\nremote ravine not far from Jayapura, the provincial capital of
\nIrian Jaya, on Sunday morning. Earlier reports said he had been
\nkidnapped by several unidentified people on his way from the city
\nto his home by a lake 55 kilometers away.<\/p>\n
The team of doctors who examined his body at the Jayapura
\nGeneral Hospital said on Monday that the 63-year-old politician
\ndied of lack of oxygen. The team's statement, quoted by Antara
\nnews agency on Monday, said there was no sign of gun shot wounds
\nor asphyxiation. In January Theys was treated at a Jakarta
\nhospital for heart problems. Whether the doctors' conclusion
\nwould assuage Theys' angry supporters at his village remains to
\nbe seen because the police still have to nab the suspected
\nkidnappers.<\/p>\n
Theys was a prominent figure in the development of the gold-
\nrich easternmost province of Indonesia since he made headlines by
\nsetting up a separatist group demanding a separate state for
\nIrian Jaya.<\/p>\n
As the 100 years of Dutch colonial rule left only six high
\nschool graduates when they left the area in 1962,
\nTheys was one of the men appointed as a member of the provincial
\nassembly (DPRD) representing Golkar, the government party
\nfaction. During his 15-year tenure he never took the opportunity
\nto voice separatists ideology. He was seemingly following the
\nparty line.<\/p>\n
His loyalty to the state was also seen in 1969 after he was
\nselected as a member of a United Nations council in charge of a
\nplebiscite which aimed to decide whether the Irianese would
\nremain with Indonesia or separate. The council wholly endorsed
\nIrian Jaya's integration with Indonesia, as did the United
\nNations General Assembly in New York afterwards. Back home in
\nIrian Jaya, the decision paved the way for the beginning of the
\nfive-year development plan.<\/p>\n
With the fall of the Soeharto regime in 1998 the voice
\ndemanding an independent state sounded loudly in Irian Jaya with
\naged Theys shouting the loudest. The confusing manner with which
\npresident Abdurrahman Wahid handled the Irian case further
\ncomplicated the problem. He seemed to be out of touch with the
\nproblem and refused to take other people's advice.<\/p>\n
This made the people confounded to hear Theys' statement when
\nhe opened the Papuan People's Congress in May last year. After
\nkissing a separatist flag, Theys said: \"Indonesia, the
\nNetherlands, the United States and the United Nations had guided
\nthe course of Papuan history.\"<\/p>\n
He added that before the United Nations agreed to transfer
\nthis island to Indonesia nobody from Papua had been consulted.<\/p>\n
Since then his statement became the axiom of his followers.
\nHowever, no survey has been made to determine how popular Theys
\nhad been outside his birth place Sentani. Anyway, Theys deserves
\nan applause. He never resorted to armed struggle. He fought for
\nhis ideals only through peaceful means.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-death-of-a-secessionist-1447893297",
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